Railway air brake
![Piping diagram from 1909 of a Westinghouse 6-ET Air Brake system on a locomotive](/Images/godic/202502/10/Westinghouse_Air_Brake_piping_diagram0942.jpg")
![Control handle and valve for a Westinghouse Air Brake](/Images/godic/202502/10/Westinghouse_Air_Brake_control_handle_and_valve0942.jpg")
![A comparatively simple brake linkage](/Images/godic/202502/10/Brake_Diagram0942.png")
![Rotair Valve Westinghouse Air brake Company[4]](/Images/godic/202502/10/RotairValveAriBrakeSRM0942.jpg")
A railway air brake is a railway brake power braking system with compressed air as the operating medium. Modern trains rely upon a fail-safe air brake system that is based upon a design patented by George Westinghouse on March 5, 1868. The Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO) was subsequently organized to manufacture and sell Westinghouse's invention. In various forms, it has been nearly universally adopted.